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16 Dec 2013

State of Jordan’s Birds report launched

The State of Jordan’s Birds report was launched at a ceremony in Amman on the 9th December 2013

By Tris Allinson

The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN)—BirdLife in Jordan—has just launched a major report on the status of the country’s avifauna. The publication, entitled the State of Jordan’s Birds, provides a detailed assessment of current bird populations, the threats they face, and the conservation actions that are being put in place to safeguard them.

The report was officially launched at a ceremony in Amman attended by Khaled Anis Irani— President of RSCN and the recently elected BirdLife Chairman. It received extensive media attention with coverage in a number of national newspapers.

Despite its relatively small size, Jordan has a rich biodiversity that includes over 430 bird species. Situated on a major migration route connecting Europe and Asia with the African continent, passage migrants constitute nearly 80% of the country’s avifauna. Jordan is home to a number of globally threatened bird species, perhaps most notably, Syrian Serin Serinus syriacus. Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, most (c.80%) of the global population of this small canary breed in Jordan.

Unfortunately, a recent assessment of Jordan’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) has found that all are experiencing threats, with at least one serious, long-term danger being reported at each site. The country’s wetlands are particularly imperilled. For instance, Azraq IBA, once known as a major oasis in the northern Arabian Peninsula, has suffered intensive water extraction and has consequently shrunk to less than 10% of its former size a century ago.

It is, therefore, hoped that the timely arrival of this report will sound an alarm in the minds of all those concerned for the future of birds and biodiversity in Jordan and help galvanise action to safeguard the country’s outstanding natural heritage.

This is the latest national report produced in collaboration with BirdLife’s State of the world’s birds programme. To download the report and access other State of the nation’s birds reports from around the world please click here

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For more information on the birds and biodiversity of Jordan visit the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) website

This work was generously supported by the Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation